Quick Reference

Quick Start, Enrollment & Program Milestones:

Look further into the Practitioner Training Program Handbook for more details, Basic Steps for Joining, Starting, Joining, Enrollment, the Milestones, and Completion of the Practitioner Training Program. Note: the blue underlined areas are links to forms, Find a Class, and helpful pages:

Become a SOBI Member – Join Online Now as a student member. You may take classes and learn about Ortho-Bionomy and stay at student level. If you choose to start the Practitioner Training program, all classes you take/have taken will count towards your training. See the numbered list below for more information on our training program milestones.

You do need to complete an Ortho-Bionomy training program and be approved by the Society to:

Find a Class and start completing your training program forms & requirements. Most trainees choose to find a Phase IV or Basics class for their first class, but if a class does not have a pre-requisite, you can take it without taking a Phase IV/Basics class.

Evolve to Associate in Practitioner Training - Optional

Complete the 114 unit Associate training portion of practitioner training program (forms included in this handbook)

Why add Ortho-Bionomy training to your Bodywork/Massage Education?

Ortho-Bionomy can change the dynamic of your services, from trying to “fix” your clients to instead supporting and facilitating their healing. In Ortho-Bionomy, clients actively participate in their own recovery and healing. Practitioners perform a gentle, non-invasive form of body therapy that works with chronic stress, injuries and pains or problems associated with postural and structural imbalances. These gentle positions, combined with self care techniques, facilitate changes in the client’s stress and pain patterns. With Ortho-Bionomy, we recognize the client’s pattern, find the position of comfort, exaggerate the position of comfort, and in turn support the body’s self-correcting reflexes.

Using Ortho-Bionomy can increase the scope of your practice and draw a wider client base. Because there are no contraindications to Ortho-Bionomy, you can use this modality with clients for whom massage is contra-indicated. Additionally, as Ortho-Bionomy sessions can be done with clothing on, you can draw clients who have trauma and/or body issues and are more comfortable clothed.

By attending Ortho-Bionomy workshops you have the opportunity to learn new techniques through hands on experience. You leave our workshops with skills you can use for yourself, and with your clients. These skills are a great way to set yourself apart from the other therapists in your area.

Many Ortho-Bionomy workshop attendees are massage therapists, body workers and alternative medicine practitioners. Many are searching for additional ways they can support their client’s healing process. They are also looking for a way to increase the longevity of their current practice, which can be physically demanding on their own bodies. Ortho-Bionomy can compliment your existing practice by providing balance, comfort and stress relief.

There is a toll that performing bodywork can take on your own body as a therapist. An aching back, wrists, hands and shoulders are common issues therapists face. Ortho-Bionomy can significantly decrease the pressure and force you apply in a client session, and can decrease the subsequent wear and tear on your body, while increasing your effectiveness. In Ortho-Bionomy workshops, you not only learn healing techniques, but body mechanics so you can provide supportive therapy to your clients, while reducing the stress placed on your own body.

Interested in Training, but not a Bodyworker/Massage Therapist?

Do the Ortho-Bionomy principles appeal to you? Are you interested in increasing your self care abilities or possibly starting a healing practice? Regardless of your experience, Ortho-Bionomy can support your wellness practice, and expand your ability to find physical and energetic comfort.

Ortho-Bionomy sessions are a wonderful way to increase your body awareness and learn to change your patterns of discomfort. In an Ortho-Bionomy workshop, you will learn specific techniques for individual areas of the body, while supporting comfort and balance within yourself. In a session, you learn skills to work with your own pattern. In a workshop you leave with significant skills and awareness, and begin to learn how to share these skills with others. At its core, Ortho-Bionomy is about education. First, we learn about ourselves and our patterns and then we learn to educate others. In a workshop, you begin to see how patterns of imbalance and discomfort can be supported, allowing changes to occur.

We learn ways to increase our ability to walk in life in balance and comfort. We give ourselves and those around us permission to be in comfort. Ortho-Bionomy compliments your existing wellness practices by providing additional tools to support balance and relieve the patterns of stress. These core benefits can enrich our lives. They provide support and comfort to both the individual providing care and to those to which the care is provided. A variety of workshops are offered, from three hour self care to in depth weekend and residential workshops.

Training Programs

The Society has developed and oversees professional training programs for Ortho-Bionomy® Practitioners -- the Registered Practitioner Program and the Registered Advanced Practitioner Program. Both programs are designed to give students a thorough understanding of the principles and philosophy of Ortho-Bionomy in addition to providing extensive hands-on experience in both classes and supervised practice. Trainees choose an Instructor or Practitioner as an advisor during their training. The advisor assists the student while they complete their curriculum through one-on-one discussions as well as feedback and evaluation sessions.

Unlike a school setting, trainees choose the pace they wish to complete a program. They can complete the program in a short time, or slowly complete the training over years. They can take their classes in a variety of locations and with a variety of Registered Instructors. A sixteen unit or weekend class cost ranges from $250 - $400, depending on the costs to host a class in that location. Visit the Class Page for the up-to-date listing of the Ortho-Bionomy classes currently scheduled.

Associate Member step of Practitioner Training Program

The Associate Training Program is 114 units of the 500+ unit Practitioner Training Program. Completion of the Associate program is acknowledgement of a milestone in the student’s Practitioner training. It includes:

Use the Associate Member Form link above for the course specifics and to download the Associate Membership Form to complete and send to the Society office. After being accepted as an Associate Member, 16 units of Ortho-Bionomy continuing education are required every two years. Associate Members are permitted to use the term "Ortho-Bionomy®" in their description of modalities with which they work, qualify for membership with Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals (ABMP) at their "Practitioner" level at a discounted rate, and are added to the online public Find a Practitioner Directory.

Practitioner Program

This program is designed to give individuals a thorough understanding of the art and practice of Ortho-Bionomy. The focus is on providing the trainees with an understanding of applying the principles of Ortho-Bionomy to the techniques. The student also learns to present and demonstrate Ortho-Bionomy to use in their own practices and communities. Becoming a Registered Practitioner of Ortho-Bionomy is an on-going process. It is both a personal process and a process of coming to understand the work and how to utilize it.

The Practitioner Training Program is a 503 unit training program consisting of classroom study, residential/intensive study, mentorship and practical experience.

You may use the links below to download a PDF of the Practitioner Training Program Handbook. This includes detailed information of the program, from application, program forms to the course requirements and program completion. There is also a link to the Program Fees in PayPal.

Advanced Practitioner Program

Advanced Practitioner Training is a program for those who want to continue their training after completion of the Practitioner program. The Advanced Practitioner Program allows for Practitioners to continue in their learning and professional development. The focus in this program is to expand the Practitioner's understanding and application of the more advanced work of Ortho-Bionomy.

You may use the links below to download a PDF of the Advanced Practitioner Training Program Handbook. This includes detailed information of the program, from application, program forms to the course requirements and program completion. There is also a link to the Program Fees in Paypal.

Instructor Training Program

The Instructor Training is a program for those Advanced Practitioners who want to teach. Instructor trainees have completed 1,000 hours of training in the Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner Programs. Our Instructor Training Program embodies a commitment to excellence in education and high standards. This ensures that students are receiving not only training on the techniques and principles, but also the philosophy, mood and energetics that are Ortho-Bionomy.

The Instructor Training Program is a mentorship program that consists of instructor training seminars, mentorship and guided teaching experiences. It includes:

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Mentorship with experienced instructors

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Two Instructor Training Intensives

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Bench assists, Co-teaches and Supervised Teaching experiences

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Instructor trainees are approved to teach by the Society upon recommendation of their program advisors and the Instructor Review Committee

Instructors are registered by the Society of Ortho-Bionomy and are required to co-teach or be observed teaching every two years to maintain their registered instructor status.

You may use the links below to download a PDF of the Instructor Training Program Handbook. This includes detailed information of the program, from application, program forms to the course requirements and program completion. There is also a link to the Program Fees in Paypal.

Advanced Instructor Training

Many of our instructors continue their training to teach the Advanced Ortho-Bionomy courses above the Phase Four Level. This training is a mentoring program, where the trainees work with experienced Advanced Instructors to prepare and teach the advanced coursework.

Testimonials for Training Programs

“After successfully recovering from a car accident with Ortho-Bionomy, I knew I needed to know more about Ortho-Bionomy, both for my own self care, and to support my bodywork clients. I began taking classes and was hooked. The blend of demonstration, hands on practice and handouts made the learning process easier for me. I am now an Ortho-Bionomy Practitioner and have transitioned my practice from Massage Therapy to almost exclusively Ortho-Bionomy. By working with my clients instead of “fixing” them, they seem to recover faster and stay well, even from issues that had been chronic. And, in a challenging economy, my client book has remained full.” - D.S.

Many of our forms are in PDF format and will require Adobe Acrobat Reader to open them. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a FREE software that allows you to view and print Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. To download the latest version of this software, please click on the icon to the right to download it from the Adobe website.